Page 99 - Life Insurance underwriting Ebook IC 22

c) Severe asthma

✓ Symptom of cough, wheeze, chest tightness or difficult' breathing continual
✓ Nighttime symptoms frequent
✓ Lung function test F EV I less than or equal to 60 percent of normal values
✓ Peak flow more than 30 percent variability
✓ Poor response to treatment
✓ Hospital admission required intermittently
✓ Greater than 2 weeks of time off from work per year

d) Status Asthmatics

An asthma attack can quickly become severe, causing death before the
individual can reach a medical facility

2.2 Bronchitis

It is a condition in which mucous membranes of the bronchial passages in the
lungs become inflamed.

Classification of bronchitis

Bronchitis can be classified into two main types

A) Acute bronchitis - It is an inflammation and irritation of the bronchial tubes
(airways) of acute onset.

B) Chronic bronchitis - Chronic bronchitis is defined as chronic cough and
sputum production for at least 3 months a year for two consecutive years
without any underlying disease to explain the cough.

✓ Reversible chronic bronchitis

It is defined as a > 15% increase in FEV 1 or normalization of spirometrv
following bronchodilator inhalation.

✓ Irreversible chronic bronchitis

Chronic bronchitis is part of the spectrum of chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, which is characterized by irreversible airflow limitation.
Underwriting considerations for bronchitis

✓ Frequency and seventy of attacks
✓Any trigger for symptoms
✓ Treatment (past and present) any long term therapy
✓ History of hospitalization

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